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Under the Dome is your inside source on North Carolina politics and government and has been a regular feature in The N&O since 1934. Check here for the latest on state and federal government, political advocacy and upcoming elections. This blog is maintained by the N&O politics staff.

Seeing Petty in the midst of the state government complex on Tuesday got Dome to thinking about the time Petty, a Republican, sought statewide elective office. Petty ran in 1996 for Secretary of State, losing to Democrat Elaine Marshall, who still holds the office.

Members of the North Carolina NAACP and its Moral Monday movement protested at the state offices of U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr and sent a letter that appealed to them on the basis of Christianity to vote for Loretta Lynch as attorney general.

State Treasurer Janet Cowell announced Tuesday the state has kept its AAA general obligation bond rating, with a stable outlook, with all three rating agencies. Cowell said in a statement that Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings have kept North Carolina as one of only 10 states to earn the AAA bond rating from all three rating agencies.

Four gun-rights bills have been filed in the NC Senate, including one creating a new class of “homeland security” permit-holders, who would receive badges and the right to carry concealed handguns anywhere law enforcement officers can.

Three North Carolina Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to the state's two Republican senators on Friday, urging them to “stand on the right side of history” and vote for the North Carolina native Loretta Lynch as attorney general.

North Carolina Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr were among 11 Republicans who voted with Democrats Thursday night for a non-binding budget amendment that would give legally married same-sex spouses Social Security and veterans benefits they have earned, and ensure them equal treatment under the law.

NC Attorney General Roy Cooper is stepping up his unannounced campaign for governor, with a series of Facebook ads hitting Gov. Pat McCrory on education and other issues, and tying him to the General Assembly.

A bill to define a new sort of three-wheeled vehicle called an autocycle zoomed through the House Thursday without dissent – and without any mention that nobody has manufactured an autocycle and nobody can buy one.

House Bill 358, which would give a two-year reprieve before a tougher standard is used for evaluating North Carolina’s public schools under the state’s A-F letter grading system, was referred Thursday to the Education Committee. It’s expected to win quick approval there as all three committee chairs are among the bill’s primary sponsors.